Red vs Blue Revenge Trilogy: 1 Rebuilding
by AgentDC
Summary: Post Season 10. AU. When the Insurrectionist Threat grows stronger, an old friend (OC) calls on the Reds, Blues and Carolina to do something near insane... Rated T for violence, language and minor sexual themes.
1. Prologue: A Letter from the Chairman

July 18, 2560

To the Director of Project Freelancer 2.0

Dear Director,

As I send this letter to you from my office, I feel a sense of dread creep into my heart. This Project, its name, has a legacy you are all too familiar with. You had seen the horrors it created. And yet, you have remained strong in your decision in rebuilding this Project and running it the "right" way. And I can respect that.

I send this letter as both a notification and an invitation. We have given you access to the supplies you have requested and have provided you with a _Paris_-class heavy frigate that you may name as you see fit. I also must warn you that this military hardware must not fall into enemy hands, for it could be devastating to the rebuilding process of the UNSC and to the new outer colonies. I also invite you to always send in reports and to ask for assistance as you see fit.

The request you have also made for the use of the ex-criminals of the UNSC had shocked everyone on the Board, but nevertheless you provoked a strong argument in their defense of why you wish for them to be recruited. You have indeed worked with them before and they did have a strong role in capturing the Director… or rather bringing him to the justice he was willing to provide to himself. So, I am happy to inform you that this request has been sent through as well.

We have reasons to believe one of the former fugitives you have requested is somewhere in the northern Canadian forests. There has been reported Insurrectionist activity there and I believe she has gone there to "clean up".

We shall be keeping a close eye on you and your activities, and I hope you will succeed where the last Project failed.

Warm Regards,

Malcom Hargrove

Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee


	2. Chapter 1: Sneaking is Overrated

In the Canadian Wilderness

July 20, 2560

The night over Canada was clear, a clear view of the cosmos that humanity had been exploring for years. Quite and stillness was thick in the air, and not a creature stirred. The tall pine trees were thick with pine needles, the fresh scent wafting in the crisp air. In the middle of a clearing stood a large and tall warehouse. It was surrounded by a twenty-foot high barb-wired and electric fence, tall towers with spotlights were off and abandoned.

A cyan armored warrior crept along the side of the building, a strange blue device called a Plasma Rifle in her hands. She stopped at what appeared to be the entrance of the building, a small door with an electronic fingerprint scanner. The warrior hissed and called up a friend.

"Church?"

A white Mark VI armored figure with a light blue aura appeared on her HUD. This was Epsilon, or rather Church. A fragment of the original A.I. unit, Alpha. Church had helped this warrior take down the Director of Project Freelancer, and since then they had worked to keep Project Freelancer hardware out of incompetent hands. Church looked at his companion and behind that artificial visor, she could feel a touch of indifference, "Yeah Carolina?"

"Can you unlock the door? It's a fingerprint scanner." Carolina asked.

Turning his attention to the small panel, he shrugged, "Piece of cake."

There was a series of quick bleeps and a stream of data as the scanner read, OPEN. Carolina looked at her A.I., "Thanks Church, now we can stop those idiots."

Then she heard it, at first she thought it was the wind. But it was too quiet and gruff to be a breeze. When she looked at Church's image, she saw that his shoulders were slumped. Carolina looked at him, "Hey you ok?"

"Hm? Yeah, sure. Whatever Carolina…"

Carolina, with her emerald eyes, looked at him sternly, "Church-"

Church's electronic aura flared, "Look, let's just get this stupid mission over with."

There was a long moment where they just stared at each other, each one piercing each other with their gaze. After a long moment, Church sighed, "I just miss them Carolina. It's been a year since we saw the guys…"

"Church, we've been over this," Carolina sighed in agitation, "We need to do this, to right our wrongs."

"I know, but they're my family Carolina," Church sighed and he seemed to sit in his data landscape, "Wouldn't you like to see York again if you had the chance?"

A lump formed in Carolina's throat. She glared at Church, he sighed, "Sorry, but you know what I mean, right?"

Carolina sighed, "Yes, Church, I know. And you of all people should see them. So, after we finish up this warehouse, we'll see if we can hitch a ride over to that outpost, okay?"

Church stood up, "Alright! Well, lets get moving!"

When Church flashed off her HUD, she let a little grin cross her lips. It was nice to have a little company, and Church had worked hard with her to stop the spread of Freelancer Tech. He did deserve a little reward and rest bit.

Creeping toward the door, Carolina checked her plasma rifle. She whispered, "How's it looking in there?"

Church's voice came over, "We've got a lot of people back there, who are ready to completely f*ck our shit up."

Carolina smirked, "Relax, Church. We've been through this kind of thing before."

"Right, sorry," Church replied back.

Carolina took a deep breath, "On my mark."

"Sync."

Carolina counted in her head _1…2…_ "Mark!"

The door flew open, and Carolina whipped around the corner, plasma rifle trained and ready. She expected to meet a flurry of bullets, flames and any other projectiles imaginable. But instead… she was met with snoring. On the floor, twenty soldiers lay, disarmed and beaten into submission. They moaned, groaned and snored as if they were a sleep.

Church popped up on her HUD, "Were you just too fast that I didn't see ya?"

"No…" Carolina walked to a soldier and knelt down to one of the soldiers, inspecting him.

He was badly beaten up, but still alive. His black armor was dented and ripped, his helmet askew on his head. Carolina studied the damage closely, the way it was done… it seemed familiar.

"Church, keep an eye out on the motion sensor," Carolina stood up, her plasma rifle already trained down the hall, "I've got a feeling…"

"Already ahead of ya."

Suddenly, there was a bleep on the radar on the lower left corner of her HUD. Someone was moving! Quickly, she whipped behind her and had her plasma rifle pointed in that direction. All she saw was a soldier stumbling a little, like he was drunk, and muttering, "Mommy… I don't want the boom-boom bear…"

With a swift punch, the soldier flew back into the wall and slid down, slumped. Church appeared on Carolina's HUD "Lets go."

The hall was littered with unconscious bodies, Carolina carefully stepping over their bodies in the narrow space. All the while, she examined the carnage. The walls were scraped and filled with small holes. There was some small blood splatters on the walls and there was a shotgun kicked across the floor.

"It seems like whoever did this was like the Meta," Church commented, "I mean, he tore through these guys like he was a wrecking ball or some shit…"

"No, it's not like that at all…" Carolina said quietly.

In her mind, Carolina relayed the battle in her mind. Whoever this was, he was skilled in hand-to-hand combat. There were at least a dozen soldiers in the hall to begin with, all slightly panicked about the sounds of pain from the end of the hall. Suddenly, a figure appears at the end of the hall, ready to fight. Immediately, the Insurrectionists fire away, their bullets grazing the walls. The other guy immediately used the narrow space to jump from wall to wall, dodging the bullets quickly.

First, the guy drops into the crowd, immediately disarming and knocking out an Insurrectionist with a shotgun. However, instead of using it as a gun, the guy uses it as a club and mowing through the rest all the way down. A few heads smash into the walls and finally, the shotgun gets knocked out of the guy's hand. Now, he needed to get creative.

Immediately, he drops down and starts sweeping out legs. He becomes a low tornado, spinning across the cement floor. Finally, he reaches the end where a brute is waiting for him. Moving quickly, the guy jumps up into the air and sends a punch down that disarms a huge shotgun from the brute. Catching it, the guy executes a series of blows the makes the brute back up into the wall. And the guy lets out one more swing across the brute's helmet, knocking him out cold. Then, the guy proceeded on.

Carolina explained her logic to Church, who nodded, "Yeah I guess it makes sense…"

Suddenly, the motion sensor beeped again. Two blips appeared on the radar, and they were moving furiously. Church looked at Carolina, "We got company."

Reaching the end of the hall, Carolina hugged the wall with her back, the plasma rifle held closely to her chest. From around the corner, she could hear a scream of pain, "AAAHHH! What the hell man?... Oh no, no, no… please we'll give you whatever you want-"

Carolina whipped around the corner as an Insurrectionist soldier came flying through the air. Dodging him, Carolina watched as the soldier went face first into the wall and collapse on the floor in a heap of broken body parts. Then she turned back. Insurrectionists lay on the ground in broken bodies, their moans and groans loud and pain filled. At the center of the room was a mound of these soldiers, and there was an armored figure that was cracking his knuckles. It was a white armored guy, with crimson red highlights. His helmet was across the floor, and the face both surprised Carolina and Church. He looked over at Carolina and grinned. Church produced a holographic image and sound a little happy, "Now, what're you doing here?"


	3. Chapter 2: Old Ways

Outpost "Exile": New Blood Gulch

July 22, 2560

The time on Washington's HUD said it was 11:50 a.m., ten minutes to noon over New Blood Gulch. It had been a hot day so far, seat and steam seemed to fill Wash's helmet. He stood on the balcony embedded into the tanned orange stone with the sage green vines hanging limply. Out in the valley, there were several small mountains that were carved into for command posts. The valley itself was relatively abandoned, except for the Red and Blue teams that had moved into the outpost a little over a year ago.

After the Reds and Blues had taken down the Director, the team needed a place to live with the UNSC breathing down their backs. Church had led them to this old outpost that was codenamed Exile, but they had renamed it to New Blood Gulch in remembrance of their old home. Then, old members of the team started to show up., Doc had returned, and brought along the broken Lopez, which Sarge happily fixed. Since then, they had fallen back into old traditions.

It was odd for Wash, but he found enjoyment in these routines. They kept him busy and it was simple, rustic pleasure. He found that constantly beating the Reds was a rather easy but enjoyable task. And it had been a long while since he could truly trust anyone. To have a team.

_Team…_

Wash shook his head, now was not the time to fall back into the past. To remember all the dead bodies. York, North, CT, Maine… all of them were gone from this world. Save for him and Carolina. Well, he actually didn't know if Carolina was still alive, but it was highly likely. She could take care of herself pretty well.

The navy-blue armored Caboose walked up behind Wash, carefully whispering, "Sneaking, sneaking, sneaking…"

"Hello Caboose," Wash said without turning his back.

"Hello Church!" Caboose whispered back.

Wash grinned slightly behind his helmet. After what happened at Sidewinder, Wash had donned Church's old cobalt armor to hide the fact that he was dead. Caboose had always been fond of Church, thinking of him as his best friend. Now Washington was the, "other Church".

"Do you have the camera?" Washington asked, turning to his teammate.

Caboose nodded, "Yes!"

Wash nodded back, "Yes this may be the best surrender, ever-"

"Of all time," Caboose finished for him in his normal voice. Wash could tell he was smiling big behind his Mark V helmet.

Wash looked around behind Caboose, "Hey, where's Tucker?"

"He wasn't in his room… Maybe he's invisible!" Caboose whispered again.

"Invisible? Caboose, why would Tucker be invisible?"

"Because he's fighting invisible enemies," Caboose whispered back in an oblivious voice.

Wash cocked his head slightly, "Invisible enemies?"

"Yes!" Caboose whispered, "They seemed to be in the room with the metal men with the white circles on their chests."

Wash was genuinely surprised, "He's in the training room?"

"Yeah, I don't know what that is so I'm gonna nod my head and say, 'Yes'. Yes," Caboose nodded.

"Well, how often does he go in there?" Wash asked.

"Almost everyday,"

Wash, in the small time he knew Tucker, would have never guessed Tucker would be training. In fact, Doc and the Reds said that Ticker rarely ever did. They say he hadn't been quite the same ever the team had been split up. And he had certainly changed since they had found the Director.

Wash looked at his HUD. 11:55. Almost time. He held out his hand, "Caboose, give me the camera and go get Tucker. Oh, and Doc too."

"Ok!" Caboose tossed over the Camera and trotted away.

Wash quickly set up the camera down pointed it into the field directly below. Ready to film the Red team's surrender. He grabbed their negotiating piece, the Red Flag, and placed it behind the camera. Wash then waited and soon he could hear the music of the Warthog in the distance.

"Caboose! Hurry up!"

"Dammit Private Grif, it was your single duty to protect our flag!" the red armored, southern-accented, Sarge shouted as the Red team sped through the canyon.

"Sir, I couldn't help it, there was a cheeseburger!" the lazy orange armored Grif replied.

"A cheeseburger?" Sarge asked incredulously.

"Yes and-"

The maroon soldier, Simmons, scoffed, "No sir, It wasn't a cheeseburger. It was a rock painted as a cheeseburger."

"And it was delicious," Grif finished with satisfaction.

Sarge shook his head, "Grif, you never cease to amaze me with your rampant stupidity and hunger."

"Thank you, sir," Grif said happily as he swerved around the huge stone pillar, signaling middle ground.

Simmons sighed, "Are they going to do the usual terms, sir?"

Sarge grunted and shrugged, "I don't know, Simmons. But those Blues are crafty… Maybe they'll make us kill each other. I would gladly take that punishment, and I will take the joy of killing Grif!"

"Of course," Grif sighed.

Blue base was built into the canyon wall, at least going a hundred feet into the rock. The huge metal balcony was where the Blue's held their surrender negotiations and where they held their flag for all to see. Red Base was an actual building, or rather buildings. There was a small two-story command post with a long one-story barracks nearby it. Their flag would stand in the middle of the command post, if it wasn't almost always at Blue Base.

Pulling up near the entrance, the Red team exited their vehicle. Immediately, Wash cried out, "Hey Red's over here!"

Walking over o the field before the balcony, the Red's looked up to see the entire Blue team standing close to the edge. Doc, Caboose, Tucker and Wash all there with a cardboard box in Wash's hands. A camera was on a tripod, trained down on the three Red team members.

"Hey, where's Lopez and Major Muffin?" Caboose asked innocently.

"They got lost!" Simmons yelled.

Tucker was befuddled, "Lost? This canyon isn't even a mile long! How the f*ck do you get lost?"

"They're 'sight-seeing'." Grif yelled up.

The purple armored medic, Doc, spoke, "Well, we haven't really studied the canyon. There could be a lot of interesting things here."

"Whatever," Wash exclaimed, "You guys want your flag back, right?"

"Absolutely, dirtbag!" Sarge firmly announced.

"Yeah, you dirty blue!" Simmons chirped in.

"Not really!" Grif shouted.

"Well, to get it back, one of you has to wear this!" Wash threw the box down to the Reds.

Sarge caught it and the other two crowded around the box. The three opened the box and almost instantaneously, Sarge and Simmons shouted, "Grif will do it!"

Grif sighed, "Son of a b*tch…"

A few minutes later, the entire Red team showed up. Although no one could understand him, Lopez went on for five minutes on how he wanted to shoot himself over Donut's need for having to stop at every single new thing. When Donut saw what the terms for surrender would be, he was ecstatic and jumped in to help. Lopez decided to film it for future entertainment and blackmailing purposes.

Wash looked down at the Reds, "You guys ready?"

Grif stood alone in the field, and he shook his head, "I don't wanna do this."

"Grif, let us not forget that you lost our flag and you cause everything-"

"Now, that's not true Sarge," Grif cut in, "I believe we all cause our own grief on this team."

"(He is correct)." Lopez stated in his monotonous voice.

"Lopez is right," Donut added cheerily, "You need to take responsibility for your actions."

"(That is not what I said)." Lopez audibly sighed.

"Listen to Lopez, get this show on the road, dirtbag!" Sarge raised his shotgun and cocked it.

Grif sighed and Tucker turned on the camera, "You ready?"

"No!"

"Too bad, gotta do it!" Tucker called back.

Grif stood still, the rifle in his hand trembling slightly. He hung his head in shame and Wash felt a grin tugging at his lips. He called down to Grif, "Take the helmet off!"

"No!" Grif whined.

A shotgun round exploded at Grif's feet, making him jump back a little. Finally, Grif took off his helmet. Caboose gasped, as did Doc. Tucker snickered and Wash only silently grinned. Grif's face was mostly a dark tan, but there were patches of pale white skin sewed crudely on to parts of his face. His lips were rouge, his cheeks blush and pink ribbons were tied on the top of his auburn hair.

"Tucker," Wash said happily, "Hit the button."

"Hell yeah!" there was a click and the camera began filming.

Grif just stood there, silent and slightly trembling in embarrassment. Wash called down, "Say it!"

"No!" Grif yelled back.

"Dammit Grif!" Sarge yelled, "You will do it or you will face my shotgun court marshal!"

"No!"

Holding up his shotgun, Sarge was about to pull the trigger when someone tapped his shoulder. Spinning around and pulling the trigger, Sarge heard the shotgun round hit a large rock and then Simmons scream, "Son of a b*tch!"

Sarge was angry, "Dammit Simmons, you know the rule! No touching while firing! I could've killed ya and not Grif!"

Simmons stood up, clutching the space on his armor where his metallic heart would be, "Sorry sir, but I believe I have a better solution to the problem at hand."

Sarge began reloading his shotgun, "Does it involve killing Grif?"

"No sir, but-"

"I'm not interested Simmons," Sarge aimed his shotgun at Grif's face.

"-it does cause Grif pain however, and a lot of it," Simmons finished.

It was a long moment before Sarge lowered his shotgun and grunted, "I'm listening."

Grif gulped audibly, "Oh shit…"

Simmons started, "We kill Grif through stuff he hates, very slowly. We tie him to a chair and make him watch us eat all the food."

"No!" Grif exclaimed.

"Then we have Lopez sing to him," Simmons continued.

"Ah!" Grif shouted in anguish.

Simmons grinned behind his helmet, "And then we have Donut-"

"Oh, Jesus Christ I'll do it!" Grif cried.

Wash leaned in toward Tucker and whispered, "Did you get all of that?"

Tucker nodded and summed in on Grif's face, "Say it dude!"

Grif sighed deeply, the entire dead silent as they waited. Then, Grif yelled, "I would just like to let everyone know… that I suck!"

"And?" Wash snickered.

Grif clenched his fists and hung his head, "And that I'm a girl!"

"Go on!" Tucker yelled.

"And I like ribbons in my hair," Grif shouted, "And I want to kiss all the boys!"

There were whoops and cheers from both Red and Blue team as Grif finished his speech. Sarge could be heard crying and wailing, "This is the best surrender, ever, of all time!"

As the cheers died down, a familiar voice crackled over their radios, "Oh, I missed doing that to you guys so much."

A large, holographic figure appeared next to Grif. It was a white armored figure with a sky blue aura around it, and it held a sniper rifle in its hands. Everyone stood there, in awe as the hologram said, "What's wrong guys? It looks like you've seen a mother f*cking ghost."


	4. Chapter 3: An Offer

**Author's note: So hey, incoming OC. it may seem odd but I will explain his backstory in another fanfic. Other than that, thanks for reading and please continue on in the events of _Rebuilding__!_**

"CHURCH!"

Everyone saw Caboose jump off the edge of the metal balcony of Blue Base and charging forward through the Reds, Donut and Simmons spinning around on their heels. Caboose jumped in a dive, tying to hug/tackle the hologram of Church. However, he ended up flying through him and crashing into the dirt with such force the ground shook for a moment. Grif snickered.

The other Blue team members jumped down and jogged over to the holographic Church. The Reds followed. Wash was the first to speak, "Epsilon, what're you doing here?"

Church looked around at everyone and said, "Thought I'd visit, catch up on the failings of Red team and the bad asses of Blue team."

"Church!" Caboose jumped back up and tried to hug the hologram, "Church! I missed you!"

"Church, what you been doing?" Doc asked, inspecting the hologram, "You been keeping healthy?"

"Doc, you know I'm not alive."

"Still cranky, eh? Not enough time in sleep mode?" Doc inquired.

"I f*cking hate you," Church would've grinned quietly if he had a face.

Sarge walked forward, "If it ain't the ghost blue-tard himself. Back from fairy tale land, eh?"

Simmons sighed, "Sir-"

"Kill some giants, go running with pixies, and swim with some mermaids?" Sarge chuckled to himself.

Church shook his holographic head and looked over at Tucker. He was looking around, anxious. Church spoke, "Having trouble seeing me? I swear I should be able to do this right by now…"

"Huh?" Tucker turned to look at Church, "Oh, no… It's good to see ya buddy."

Tucker still looked around, his weight shifting from his right leg to his left. Church cocked his head, "Carolina isn't here right now, idiot."

Tucker looked a little let down, "O-oh…"

Churched looked at his former teammate with curiosity. He had known his teammate for years, and knew that he was obsessed with women and getting into bed with them. But Church was certain that Tucker _hated_ Carolina, ever since she threatened to kill him if he were not go on a mission. But he seemed… eager to see her. Guess old habits die hard... Church shrugged it off, "She'll be here soon. She just had to check on something"

Grif whined, "Couldn't have you shown up before I humiliated myself?"

Church shrugged, "What can I say? I'm bad with timing. And Red team sucks."

Sarge pulled up his shotgun, "Shut up blue-tard."

Everyone laughed, everyone except Washington. He just looked at Church and crossed his arms. Being in Project Freelancer, Wash had learned the hard way that all isn't was it seemed to be. And it was thanks to Epsilon that he lost any innocence he had left. But it did keep him alive. Wash spoke flat, "Epsilon, why are you here?"

Church looked at Wash, "I-I just told you."

Dead give away, Wash replied, "The other reason."

Everyone stared at Church, his holographic form suddenly becoming smaller. Sarge spoke, "What does he mean, fairy boy?"

"Yeah Church, what does he mean?" the others piped in.

Church looked frantic. He started to back up and stuttered, "I-I already told you…"

Wash stepped forward, "Epsilon-"

"Church!"

Everyone turned around to see the cyan-armored Carolina standing a few yards away, her helmet in the crook of her arm and balanced on her hip. Her long velvet red hair was tied back into a loose ponytail, her emerald green eyes zeroing on the two teams. Behind her was another armored figure, this one white with crimson trim. He still hand on his Mark VI helmet… and he seemed to have an air of familiarity around him.

Tucker was silent, looking at Carolina. Grif and Simmons stood behind Sarge, trembling. Doc had no idea what was going on, as did Lopez. Donut squealed and Caboose was ecstatic, "It's Carolina!"

Carolina walked forward, her eyes glancing over everyone. She entered the crowd and nodded at Wash. He returned the nod, a feeling of uncertainty gnawing at his mind. Stopping by Church, the hologram vanished and Carolina looked at everyone, "Sorry, he came ahead to… warm up everyone."

Everyone expected to hear the all too known "Bow chicka bow wow!" but there was none. Grif instead spoke, "Let me guess? We got another mad man that you're gonna drag us into and we're all gonna nearly die helping you?"

"Or you've come to tie up loose ends?" Simmons squealed in panic.

Carolina shook her head, "No, no. I wouldn't wanna drag you idiots into another mess. You'd just slow me down."

"Then what's with the other Freelancer-looking fella over there?" Sarge motioned with his shotgun at the warrior.

"Oh Sarge, don't tell you've forgotten me?" the warrior replied.

The tone made everyone turn to the warrior. Pulling off his helmet, the warrior revealed his face. There was a bush of dirty blonde hair brushing over his blue/green eyes. There was a slight grin tugging at the warrior's lips his eyes gleamed in happiness.

Once again, Caboose was ecstatic, "ALEX!"

Alex walked toward the group, holding his helmet by his side. He fist bumped Tucker, high-fived Simmons and Grif, saluted to Sarge, waved at Donut, nodded at Doc and was finally getting crushed by Caboose in a bear hug.

"C-Caboose…" Alex wheezed under the pressure. Then, he thought he heard a rib crack.

"Oh, Alex I missed you almost as much as I missed Church!" Caboose exclaimed happily, oblivious to the harmful hug.

"CABOOSE!" Alex cried.

Alex fell over, hunched and gasping for breath as Caboose let him go and murmured, "Tucker did it…"

Church laughed, "Did not envy that."

Sarge tapped Alex's shoulder plate, "Still wearing that armor huh?"

"Yeah…" Alex slowly stood up after catching his breath.

Grif sighed, "Are we getting dragged into something?"

Alex shook his head, "Nah I just wanna talk, Grifilina."

Grif hung his head in shame. Tucker took a step closer, "Talk about what?"

Alex looked at the small mountain behind the b=group. There was a ramp leading h=inside to a carved command post. He waved his hand in that direction, "Let's go inside, I'll explain in there."

The command post was a fairly empty, carved out room. Several sheets of shiny metal covered dark stone, crates of different sizes stacked in corners. The Reds and Blues brought out folding chairs and sat in the middle of the room while Carolina sat in the back and on top of the crates with her arms crossed. Alex stood up front, behind him was a large, flat screen with Church inside it.

"So, why the change of scene?" Doc asked.

"Yeah!" Donut chirped in, "At least you could've chosen somewhere with better mood lighting, a nice carpet and nice curtains-"

"Donut," Sarge sighed, "Where in the hell could he get yer carpet in the middle of nowhere?"

Donut nodded excitedly, "I know this guy, he owes me a favor after I got something for him out of this tight hole-"

Alex audibly cleared his throat, "Now, you all remember what happened a year ago, right?"

"We threw the Director a surprise party," Caboose exclaimed, "But the robots there didn't like parties, so we had to beat them up. And then we came here cause the party was done."

"Um… yeah…" Alex grinned sheepishly, "Well, after that I went to the UNSC to clear your guys' names for the literally thousands upon thousands of regulations we broke-"

"How many?" Sarge asked, his body rigid with anxiety.

Alex thought for a long moment, "I think the exact count is 19,117 regulations broken."

Sarge dropped his shotgun to the floor.

"New record in all recorded military history…" Carolina muttered.

Moaning in despair, Sarge put his head in his hands

"Anyways, well, you guys are all cleared. The UNSC is no longer hunting you down as fugitive," Alex smiled.

Sarge slumped in his chair relieved. Everyone else just murmured about it, nothing they weren't used to anyway. Alex continued, "After that, ONI asked me to become a frontline agent, tracking down the Insurrectionist hotspots of activity. And the job's been fairly easy, Innies are pushovers."

Simmons spoke up, his tone clearly showing irritation, "You came out here to brag about your promotion?"

"No," Alex sighed, "Lately, things have changed. The Insurrectionists have gotten smarter. They're starting to get harder-"

"Bow chicka bow wow."

"-to beat. And the UNSC with ONI have asked me to create a task force to take care of the rising threat." Alex finished.

There was an uneasy air in the room as Alex continued on, "I've thought about this long and hard. I've thought of gathering high ranked UNSC soldiers with certain skills. But, I decided against that. Then I thought of using Aliens, but I would need a translator. So, I've decided to something else. Something I can have complete control of."

Alex looked at everyone, "I'm recreating Project Freelancer."

The room exploded in protest, each giving out their own reasons as to why the project should not be rebuilt. Alex held up his hands to quell the commotion, "Whoa, whoa! Calm down!"

"Calm down?" Sarge stood up, "Son, Project Freelancer was the reason we were taken from out homes, fighting for no dang gum reason and nearly got killed more times than we can count! And I've wished Grif could've-"

"Hear me out!" Alex yelled.

Everyone reluctantly fell silent and Sarge sat back down. Alex sighed, "I know the old Project Freelancer caused a lot of problems. Hell, as Agent D.C. I created a few of those problems. As did Carolina and Wash."

Carolina turned a way slightly and Wash hung his head. Alex pressed on, "But this is a chance to make things right, undo what got f*cked up and fix it up."

"We didn't do any of it," Grif said, "You did."

Alex sighed in frustration, "I know! But there will be some things that will be different. For starters, I'm running the Project. And I know what went wrong, or rather what I can fix. As do all of you. Remember Sarge, what you said before we tracked down Carolina and Church? How we were able to beat them every time?"

"We had each other," Sarge said, "We could all trust each other."

Alex smiled, "Exactly! And I don't want to recruit a totally new team. I want a good core, a team that can trust one another and not be faltered by events. I want a team with a good set of skills wide and varied. I want you guys."

Everyone was shocked. Grif first spoke out, "But we're terrible soldiers! Carolina said so, and she is very perceptive!"

Alex held up a hand, "And yet, you've beaten the Meta, the Director, Wyoming, O'Malley, C.T. and so many other who were better equipped and trained. You guys have the most well knit team that there is, unmoved by the staggering odds. That's why I want you guys for this Project Freelancer."

"No you can't force me to go!" Grif crossed his arms defiantly.

"I'm not forcing you," Alex simply said.

"You can't- wait, what?" Grif was taken aback.

"I'm not forcing you or anybody else to join," Alex repeated, "Instead, I'm offering you the choice. You've been forced to do a lot of things, so you deserve to choose what you want."

Alex pointed to Carolina, and then Church, "They both have agreed to join me. And now I ask you, will you join me? Will you try and help me make the universe safer for others? Or do you wish to remain here and live the same as you did all those years ago?"

Everyone was silent, no one dared to make a move. Alex waited for a long moment, seeing if anyone would make the choice. Finally, Carolina spoke, "Forget it, Alex. They won't do it."

Sighing in defeat, Alex walked over to Carolina and was about to move out when an unexpected voice said, "I'll do it!"

Alex and everyone else turned around to see Tucker standing up. Everyone was shocked, Tucker didn't seem like the first to join up with Freelancer. He spoke again, this time more firm in his resolve, "I'll join up with you Alex."

Grinning, Alex waved for Tucker to join him and Carolina in the back. Just as Tucker walked back, Sarge stood up, "Unsurpassable odds and the high risk of death? Sounds like my kind of reckless."

Simmons stood up immediately, "Right behind you sir!"

As the two Reds walked back, Lopez followed, "(Anything will be better than this hell hole)."

Caboose jumped up, "I want to be with Church!"

"Can I have my own room? With total creative freedom to do whatever I please?" Donut asked.

As Alex replied an affirmative, Donut squealed and sprinted to the back. Doc stood up, "Hate to leave the team, or be left behind… again."

Now, there was only Washington and Church left. They both looked at each other, then Wash stood up, "This may not be the worst idea, ever, of all time. I'm in."

Grif contemplated out loud his choices, "Let's see, risk my life with my 'friends' and nearly get myself killed? Or stay here and do whatever the hell I want?"

A shotgun cock made Grif jump up, "Jesus I was only kidding!"

Alex smiled and looked at everyone, the future of Project Freelancer, "Thanks guys, it means a lot to have you on the team."

"So… what now?" Grif asked, impatient.

Alex put on his helmet and touched the side of it neat is ear, activating the comm., "Bring 'er down, Captain."

There was a garbled affirmative as Alex waved for them all to come outside. As they all exited the command post, Alex looked up into the clouds. Carolina put on her helmet and did the same. Soon, everyone looked up into the blue sky. Finally, Grif sighed, "What? We just gonna-"

Then, the whole team saw it. At first, it looked like a tiny black dot in the sky. A few seconds passed, and the dot became a black rectangle in the sky. It kept getting bigger and bigger, some people in the group getting more and more anxious. Simmons then whispered, "Is that a-"

Then the rectangle became clearer. It was in fact, a giant Paris-Class freighter. It flew down to New Blood Gulch, the air suddenly becoming a whirlwind as everyone saw the huge, mile-long ship move to Blue Base and land on top of it. As everyone gazed at it in awe, Alex turned around and said, "Say hello to our mobile command center, the _Winds of Change_!"


	5. Chapter 4: Moving In

Onboard _Winds of Change_

Hangar Bay 05

July 22, 2560

The hangar bay was similar to the _Mother of Invention_, a giant hall that could house ten Pelicans and many crates full of equipment. A thin but highly effective shield protected the hangar and all its inhabitants from being sucked into base. Pilots and crew clad in white armor in the bay were scurrying about, prepping the ship for another launch within the hour.

As Alex led the team through the bay, he could hear the team chatting excitedly. He quickly glanced at Washington and Carolina. They both were stuck at how similar the _Winds of Change_ and the _Mother of Invention_ were to one another. Alex spoke as they walked, "Here is the main hangar bay, where most of the ships will be docked. Here we deploy on missions with our personal pilot."

"Just like old times," Carolina muttered.

Behind his helmet, no one could see Alex grin, "You don't know the half of it."

As if on cue a familiar voice shouted ahead, "No, no! Not there! Over _there_! Seriously, pay attention!"

Wash stopped, "That voice…"

Up ahead, a feminine, white armored pilot stood beside a Pelican, a panel opened and the sage green metal cover leaned against the hull on the transport. She was yelling at another pilot who was pushing a crate, grumbling as he did so. The woman pilot spoke again, "Just put that back where you found it, idiot!"

Carolina then stopped, "No, it couldn't be…"

Alex walked up to the pilot, "Everyone, meet Four-Seven-Niner, our pilot."

"_Her_?!" Wash exclaimed.

FSN turned to the team, "Well, well. If it isn't the new A-Team."

"Why are you here?" Wash asked, still in shock, "I would've thought you would still be with the UNSC, maybe in jail because of Freelancer…"

Alex crossed his arms, "Made a deal with the Board, they allowed her to finish her sentence working as my pilot."

"And I can tell ya," FSN said while placing the metal covering back on the Pelican, "It's a helluva lot better than sitting in some cell all day."

"Preaching to the choir," Wash muttered.

A crash made FSN swerve her head. The other crewmember had tipped over the crate he had been pushing by accident, spare parts to several vehicles were scattered across the floor. FSN grew rigid with anger and stomped over to the poor crewman, screeching at him.

"How the f*ck did you tip this over you stupid shit?" FSN screamed as she stomped over to the crewman.

Alex waved his hand quickly, "Lets get out of here, before things get… ugly…"

Leading them out of the hangar, Alex led his Freelancers down the metallic halls of the _Winds of Change_. Along the way, Alex explained that this ship was going to be their main command center. The first stop on their tour was the mess hall.

The mess hall was fairly large, able to hold over five hundred people. Crewmembers were sitting around at metal tables, trays of food in front of them. They had cheeseburgers, cereal and every other food imaginable. Grif looked like a happy dog, if he had a tail it'd be wagging a thousand miles per hour. He spoke happily, "Oh… So much… food…"

Alex chuckled, "Yeah, this is where we get our food and stuff. Food times are posted in your rooms."

"When do we get to decorate our rooms?" Donut squealed.

"Later," Alex assured, "Now follow me."

Everyone came out of the room and Alex led them down a few feet when he stopped and turned around. He counted them off. … _8… 9…_ Alex sighed and walked back into the mess hall. Sounds of banging trays and yells of protest could be heard from outside. In a few moments, Alex came out, dragging a flailing Grif with his mouth half full, "Aw, comff on!"

Sarge shook his head, "No surprise you'd be stuffing yer face again, Private."

Alex led the team through the halls, passing the curious crew members who saluted as Alex passed. Carolina whispered to Alex, "How does it feel to be in charge?"

"How does it feel to be a Freelancer again?" Alex countered with a smirk.

Even though Alex couldn't see behind her helmet, Alex knew Carolina was smirking back. It was good to have her back on the team, it was good to have everyone he could trust on this team. He enjoyed hearing their excited voices as Alex showed them the armory (where Sarge tried to compare his shotgun to the others mounted on the wall), the research labs (Lopez and Simmons wanted to stay there for a long while) and the med bay (Doc already made quick note of the body disposal unit). Then, they came to the biggest stop on their tour.

The training room was almost an exact replica of the _Mother of Invention_'s training room. It was a large, two-story room that was several hundred yards across and deep. A huge, light blue screen covered a fourth of the back wall. The symbol of the Freelancers was shown in big, gray lines. The center of the floor had the symbol of the UNSC painted on it. Alex walked them inside and called out, "Honey! I'm home!"

The screen's symbol soon changed to what looked like to be an atom and a all too familiar, robotic female voice said in a warm tone, "Welcome back Agent D.C."

Carolina stopped dead, "F.I.L.S.S.?"

"Sheila?" Caboose asked quietly.

"Mi amore?" Lopez still sounded monotonous.

"Sheila?!" Sarge and the others called out in disbelief.

"… Caboose? Lopez?" Sheila answered back.

Alex grinned, "Yeah guys, I salvaged Sheila from the crashed Pelican back in Valhalla. She'll be our onboard A.I. for the ship and all her systems. Tell 'em how ya feel Sheila."

"It is quite wonderful to be running at full capacity," Sheila reported with a hint of glee in her tone.

"Wow you must've made a real impression on the UNSC to let them use all this stuff," Simmons whistled.

"Yeah, I did…" Alex said thoughtfully, then shook his head and looked at the screen again, "Sheila, can you bring up the Board?"

"Certainly Director," the atom-looking icon blinked off and two columns of names appeared on the screen. The column on the left and the names were highlighted in blue while the ones on the right were highlighted in red. Carolina and Wash were with the Blues on the list.

"That up there," Alex gestured behind him with his thumb as he turned to the group, "Is the new Leader Board."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Wash expressed his concern clearly, "After all that was one thing that made… some of us turn against each other back in the old Project."

Carolina was a little uncomfortable at the mention of "some" and Alex made quick note of that, "That was because it was based on mission performance. That in turn could lead to loss of objectives, endangering teammates for higher scores and many other casualties. Wash, this Leader Board is based on training missions and simulations. How well you as an individual and how well you work on a team."

"What do we get if we're on the top?" Grif asked.

"Self-satisfaction, pride in being the best on your team and maybe a little extra reward," Alex listed.

"Extra reward?" Sarge asked.

"Is it a party?" Caboose asked innocently.

"More food?" Grif inquired.

"Time in the lab?" Simmons eagerly asked.

Alex smirked, "Changes every time, climb the Leader Board and you'll find out."

Alex pointed back up at the board, "Soon, you guys will get your codenames and specializations. But, for now, I have a few things to attend to."

Turning to Carolina, Alex said, "Can you give the team their first training session? I need to go finish up some stuff and then we can really get started."

Carolina nodded, "Yeah, can do."

"Oh, and I need Church to come too," Alex turned to Lopez, "Can you come too Lopez? I need some help."

"(Ok)," Lopez replied.

Church's holographic form appeared, "I'm not so certain… You could f*ck me up."

Alex crossed his arms, "You very well know that I won't do that. I just need you to test something."

Carolina looked at Church, "Go ahead, I'll beat his ass in if he does anything."

"Looking forward to that," Alex smirked.

Tucker snickered, "Bow chicka bow wow!"

Church walked over to Alex, "Ok… let's get this over with."

As Alex, Church and Lopez walked out of the training room, Carolina turned to the Reds and Blues and spoke with a hint of sadistic glee, "Okay, whose first?"


	6. Chapter 5: Two to Tango, Seven to Watch

Onboard the _Winds of Change_

Training Room

The Reds and Blues were huddled together, whispering furiously to one another while Carolina stood a few feet away from them with her arms crossed. She had just laid down the gauntlet, in order to demonstrate some simple fighting techniques she requested one of the Blood Gulch gang to come up and partake in a sparring match. This was a grave choice to make.

Sarge spoke first, "I make no bias in my decision when I say that we should send in Grif-"

"No," Grif shook his head, "You can shoot me, anything is better than dealing with that psycho chick over there."

Sarge turned to Simmons, "Shall we commence 'Operation: Point my gun at Grif'?"

Donut piped in, "Maybe we should send in Caboose."

Everyone turned their heads to see Caboose standing below the screen, his head tilted up and talking to the huge computer screen with Sheila's symbol on it. Caboose was talking loudly and excitedly, jumping up and down in pure excitement. Everyone then looked at Doc. He held up his hands, "Guys I know I'm not much of a pacifist anymore, but I still am."

Wash shook his head, "Let 'em have his moment. I'll spare you the trouble and do it."

"Challenger accepted. Agents clear the ring, the match is about to begin," Sheila spoke through the speakers in the room.

Wash nodded, "Okay guys I'll go and try not to get beaten up too hard-"

"Agent Washington please exit the ring," Sheila spoke again.

"What?" Wash asked incredulously, "Then who-"

Everyone turned around and saw that Tucker had walked up to Carolina, his sword drawn. Carolina extended her stun baton. Sarge was the first to speak, "Son, have you lost yer mind? Yer gonna get creamed!"

Grif shrugged, "Hey, better him than me."

"Ditto that," Simmons nodded.

Wash stepped forward to Tucker, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You've seen what she's capable of, you really think you can take her?"

Turning his head to Wash, Tucker nodded and said, "Bow chicka bow wow."

Wash chuckled, "It's your funeral, Tucker."

As the team exited the floor, Sheila's voice came back on, "This will be a single round, close quarters combat match between Senior Freelancer Agent Carolina and Freelancer Recruit Lavernius Tucker. First to yield looses. Good luck to you Agents."

_I'm gonna need it with my swagger,_ Tucker thought to himself with a smirk. Carolina took her fighting stance, the baton in her left hand. Tucker activated his sword, the blue electrifying blades hissing to life. The duo walked around in a slow circle, their eyes meeting behind their orange visors. They continued to circle as the team watched from above.

Caboose was talking to a panel on the controls, Wash was watching with interest and concern, Doc was as well. Simmons was examining the controls in depth, Sarge was cheering on Carolina to "kick the blue-tard's ass". Grif was laying back in his chair, already snoozing and Donut was complaining about the decorative elements in the room and making plans for his own.

Wash was extremely concerned, "I hope she won't go too hard on Tucker…"

Doc looked at Wash, "Why would she do that?"

"Lets just say there have been… 'troubles' between the two…" Wash spoke carefully.

Doc wasted no time in deciphering the answer, "How many times did he hit on her.

Taking a moment to count, Wash answered, "6 times that I was there for, probably hundreds more."

Doc shook his head, "Almost as bad as Tex."

Down in the training room, Tucker was talking to Carolina as they slowly circled each other, "What's the matter sweet cheeks, don't think you can handle me?"

Carolina said nothing, her mind already processing on how to take down the annoying ass as slowly and most humiliating way possible. Tucker kept on rambling, "I mean, you are dealing with a sword master, bow chicka bow wow."

_First the knee, knees always hurt like a bitch,_ Carolina thought to herself, _then I'll go for the sword arm, disarm him before he can get in a counter strike-_

"Don't worry, I'll take you down nice and slow," Tucker snickered a little.

_His balls are first,_ Carolina made her decision and then she was off. She shot straight at Tucker, her baton winding up to whack him across the head. He anticipated this and rolled underneath her, seeing her stumble and land where he once stood. Standing back up, Tucker charge and swung his sword, yelling, "Swish!"

Ducking, Carolina whacked Tucker in the back with her baton, a little spark of electricity flowing through the startled Blue. He surprisingly whipped back around and swung the energy sword again, hear him cry out, "Swish!"

Jumping over Tucker's arm, Carolina swept Tucker's legs out from underneath him, hearing him crash to the floor. Tucker groaned and saw Carolina bring the stun baton over her head to knock out Tucker. Moving quickly, Tucker backwards somersaulted and used the momentum to jump back and get back into his fighting stance.

Wash was surprised, "He actually lasted longer than thirty seconds."

"Must've been all that training he did," Doc muttered to himself.

"C'mon Miss Fussy Britches," Sarge yelled, "Give 'em hell!"

Tucker charged forward, the sword trailing behind him. Carolina stood and prepped herself quickly for Tucker's attack. When he was about three feet away from her, Tucker brought back his right arm and shot it out, crying out, "Stab!"

The sword came a few inches shy of Carolina's chest, making her gasp in surprise. Up in the booth, Wash was physically taken aback, "Holy shit, he could've killed her!"

Tucker saw her expression and smirked behind his helmet, "Relax, sweet cheeks I put it on a low charge. It would've just glanced off."

Carolina swung her baton at Tucker quickly, whacking him upside the head. He flew into the air, his arch reaching twenty feet in the air before crashing back down on the hard metal floor. His aqua helmet skid a few feet away from his prone body, a groan coming from Tucker's form. Doc was about to call medical staff when Wash put a hand on his shoulder, "He's okay, look."

Slowly, Tucker pushed himself off the ground, revealing his face. His skin tone was that of freshly brewed coffee with milk mixed in, his hair long and dark and wavy. A single strand was braided and fell beside his dark brown eyes. Reactivating his sword, Tucker took his fighting stance again. Carolina took hers again and waited for Tucker to make his move.

Brushing the hair away from his face, Tucker charged forward again. He brought his right arm across his chest swung full force at Carolina, making her jump back. Using his forward momentum, Tucker tucked and rolled forward. Coming out of his roll, Tucker stabbed at Carolina. She jumped back again, surprised at Tucker's ferocity.

Tucker continued to press forward, swing and calling, "Swish" every time he swung at Carolina. She easily sidestepped each strike, though she found herself backing up to the wall rather quickly. She needed a new plan of attack and fast. Tucker changed his tactics and started stabbing, dodging Carolina's stabs with the baton. They engaged in this flurry of missed stabs for several seconds, causing everyone to stop and look at them.

"Wow, he's actually putting up a fight!" Grif said in astonishment.

Tucker grunted in each stab and swing, desperately trying to gain ground over Carolina. She returned each of his strikes with ease, blocking them and sparks flying everywhere with each connection. Tucker then poured on his advance, his attacks starting to blur as he stepped forward slowly, making Carolina back up again.

_What the hell?_ Carolina thought as she backed up. Tucker's cheery face was a scowl as he swung with all his strength, calling out his combos. Reaching the wall, Carolina glared behind her helmet, _No more Miss Nice Gal._

Wash recognized the tension in her body and swore softly, "Tucker's gonna get it now."

"What do ya mean there, Wash?" Sarge asked excitedly.

Wash pointed at Carolina, "See how she's tensing up in her strikes? Especially now that she's pinned against the wall? I've only seen her tense up with one person. And that was Tex."

Doc's hand was over the intercom switch, ready to call for the medics. Wash looked down back at the floor, _Don't kill him, Carolina._

Placing her foot against the wall, Carolina pushed herself off and pushed Tucker back a few feet. Stumbling backwards, Tucker had barely enough time to block Carolina's overhead strike with the baton. They held the strike for a moment, the electricity from both weapons sending sparks of energy all around. Then, Carolina pushed Tucker back again and twirled her baton.

Caroling walked forward, her pace slow as she easily deflected Tucker's many strikes and made him back up to the center of the room. Then, she took over. As Tucker came for a stab, She sidestepped to the outside of that arm and grabbed the wrist. She then twisted the arm and brought it up, making Tucker hiss and swear in pain. Tearing the sword out of his hand, Carolina threw it across the room spun around, the baton hitting Tucker square in the stomach.

Tucker hunched over, clenching his stomach and sputtering out curses. Then, Carolina swept out his legs. As Tucker fell down, Carolina kneed Tucker's stomach and punched him away, Tucker screaming, "B*tch!"

Crashing into the metal ground, Carolina walked forward and placed the baton at Tucker's throat, "I think I handled you pretty well, asshole."

"Point: Carolina. Round goes to Agent Carolina."


	7. Chapter 6: Revamp and Debriefing

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry it took so long guys. I've been really bogged down on stuff. But, I finished the chapter and am getting on to new ones. Oh, and I have permission from TunelessLyric to use Agent California. Enjoy!**

When Alex walked back into the observation room, he was carrying several large cases with Lopez. His armor had changed considerably. Now, he had a CQB chest with the kabar knife, Hayabusa shoulders with the crimson trim and a Hayabusa helmet with the back in crimson. He set the cases and helmet down on a spare chair and was about to speak to the entire group when he saw Tucker. He had a cloth shoved in to his nose and it was half bloody, his aqua armor torso piece and arms were off which revealed his white tank top over his strong build. Several cloth strips were tied to his arms, small ice packs covering bruises. Everyone was around Tucker, talking excitedly.

"What the f*ck happened?" Alex exclaimed in disbelief.

"Ya should've seen it," Sarge said dreamily, "Blues beating other Blues, its like getting an executive saying, 'Developers' thirty-seven times."

"Um?" Alex said while scratching his head.

Simmons stepped forward, "It was a training match between Tucker and Carolina. Carolina won."

"I can see that," Alex said while inspecting Tucker's wounds.

"That's my second patient who hasn't died on me!" Doc said in joy and pride.

"Was he in danger of dying?" Alex asked, his gaze slowly trailing over to Carolina who stood against the far wall, her arms crossed.

"Very," Carolina muttered and glared at Tucker venomously. He returned her glare with a charming grin.

Sighing, Alex shook his head, "Look, let's not try and kill each other on the first day. I'd rather not send a report to the Committee saying an ex-criminal had just committed murder. The paper work is at least ten feet high."

"He was asking for it," Carolina shrugged, "Maybe I'm too much to handle."

"Bow chicka bow- ow!" Tucker hissed as he clutched his side.

Carolina made a move to attack Tucker again. Wash was starting to move toward her when Alex was already in front of her, his hand pressed against her armored chest, his steady gaze met hers. His whole body seemed to radiate an aura of calmness, his voice much like a alpha dog's bark to his pack, "Stand down, Carolina."

Even having seen it before, the entire team was shocked when Carolina nodded, took a deep breath and released it through her teeth, her body visibly relaxing. Alex took a deep breath of his own and stepped back, he then turned to the others and said, "Now, if we can all stay quiet-"

"Where's Church?" Caboose asked instantaneously.

Alex stopped and looked at Caboose, then Church's voice echoed, "I'm here Caboose, just relax."

A hologram appeared in the center of the room, about the size of the regular Church… however, he was different. Floating in the center of the room was a guy wearing a light blue hoodie and pale skin. His black hair was messy and he had black gruff on his face. He carried a sniper rifle in his hands and the Greek symbol of Epsilon was stitched into his chest. The hologram spoke with Church's voice, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Dude, you look like… well, one of us," Tucker said, motioning towards his face.

Alex stepped forward, "Thanks to the former Director, the UNSC put more research efforts into AI units. Especially research into fragments. And they discovered a lot of cool things, like how to make a fragment into a _full_ AI unit."

"Full AI unit?" Simmons asked incredulously.

Church crossed his arms and smirked, "That's right, b*tches. I'm an AI unit now."

"Not only that, but the UNSC developed a way to further AI lifespan," Alex added as he walked over to the cases, "Church will live for fourteen years, double the original lifespan. Church 2.0."

Every murmured their surprise, even Carolina had shown a little surprise. Carolina also felt a little happy, Church was going to be ok and he could be a full AI. Alex held up his hand, "Now, we come to the next item on the list."

Alex knocked his knuckles on the big silver cases, "I've got a little gift for you guys."

"Is it a sniper rifle?" Tucker asked, a little gleam in his eyes.

Seeing Alex shake his head no, Tucker slumped a little but then jumped back up a little from the immediate pain in his ribs. Sarge spoke next, "Is it Grif-based weaponry? I've been forwarding those texting mails to Command for years, all containing my best ideas for new weapons. The Grif Launcher 2000, the Spinning Grif Saws and, my personal favorite, the FGC."

"What's the FGC?" Grif asked cautiously.

"Flaming. Grif. Catapult," Sarge exclaimed with pride.

Alex sighed and shook his head, "No, its not Grif based weaponry."

Sarge wailed, Grif smiled in relief behind his helmet. Alex held up his hand, "Now, these are new suits of armor for you guys."

"Armor?" Doc asked.

Alex nodded, "Yes. You see most Sim Troopers, especially from your guys' time, have a low grade Mark VI MJOLNIR armor. You guys have no shielding, no nothing other than a shitty HUD."

Wash looked at his HUD. It immediately flickered and turned off. He grunted in annoyance and smacked his helmet. It immediately turned it back on. Alex saw Wash and slightly grinned, "So, I tired to stay true your guys' colors… You guys have your names imprinted on the cases. Grab yours and put 'em on-"

"In front of everybody?" Tucker grinned and looked over at Carolina. She glared at Tucker while Alex sighed, "No, go to the bathrooms down the hall…"

Simmons saw his case and opened it, "Phew, this looks so cool…"

"When you're suited up, meet Carolina up on the bridge," Alex pointed his thumb up to the ceiling, "I gotta explain a few things once you're up there."

"Sure thing," Wash said as he grabbed his case, "C'mon guys."

One by one, everyone left the room. Finally, only Church 2.0, Alex and Carolina were the only ones left in the room. Alex looked at Carolina and smirked, "Hey Church, meet us at the bridge will you?"

Church looked at Alex and Carolina and shrugged, "Yeah, sure."

Then, he blipped out. Silence fell over the room, the two veteran agents of the Project staring each other down. Then, Alex leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. A playful smirk crossed Alex's lips, "So, Tucker…?"

"He had it coming," Carolina waved her hand, "How did you deal with him before?"

Alex shrugged, "He's an acquired taste, as friend. And I still think I have a mark on brain from all the facepalms I've done to his idiotic remarks."

Carolina grinned slightly, just barely visible. Alex felt a twinge of pride, only one other person had been able to do that. Looks like he was the second person to ever be on the list. Alex walked over to Carolina, "C'mon, we'd better head up to the bridge."

Carolina grabbed her helmet and nodded. Alex then led the way out of the room, while grabbing his helmet. As they walked down the halls, Carolina looked over at Alex. He was looking ahead, his gaze focused. A crewmember came running up to Alex and gave him a datapad, murmuring something about the UNSC as he did so. Alex nodded and looked at the pad, a tired look suddenly appearing in his eyes. Carolina felt a ping a concern, "You never did answer my question, Alex. Are you okay, being in charge?"

Alex shrugged, "It's a bit challenging. A lot of the crew can be whiny b*tches sometimes. Even incompetent. Kinda reminds me of the _Mother of Invention_'s crew."

Carolina nodded, for such a high-end project, Freelancer had a pretty lousy crew. Only the Agents, Four-Seven-Niner and the Director were competent in the entire ship. It was sad. Carolina still didn't feel easy with Alex's answer though, "You did seem a little uneasy leading missions at times."

Alex still focused on the datapad, "Yeah I know, but that was then. Carolina, I'm a lot better than before. How have you been since the trial?"

Carolina shrugged, "Life is very… free when you're working on a vigilante's salary."

Alex chuckled, "I know how that is."

They walked into an elevator and Alex pressed the "Bridge" option on the control panel. As they lurched upward, Alex sighed and leaned against the wall, "I'm already getting complaints from the other workers. The chefs were not too happy about the food Grif shoved own his throat."

"Is he really going to be an asset to the team?" Carolina asked, "Are any of them really going to be a help? Other than Wash?"

"They all are," Alex said, shutting off the datapad, "They have something more than the last Freelancers, they trust each other. They're a real team."

"But what about-"

"Think about it Carolina," Alex interrupted as he stood back up, "We never really trusted each other. Wash was the only one who trusted all of us. Some people more than others."

Carolina sighed, "California…"

Alex nodded, "This team is more whole, they may try to kill each other but they are more cohesive than the old Project. Besides, they also have an extreme amount of luck. I could never beat 'em at crap."

The elevator stopped at the bridge and the door hissed open. The bridge was the same as the _Mother_'s but it was also a little more lit. That way not everybody was squinting in the dark. Crewmembers were performing various tasks at their consoles, speaking to each other. Alex stepped out of the elevator and turned to Carolina, "So, you see why I chose them?"

Carolina nodded, and walked to Alex, "Yeah, and by the way, you're wrong."

Passing Alex, Carolina quickly whispered in his ear, "I trusted you."

Alex grinned and turned back forward, walking to the big, rectangular holographic debriefing table and waited for the others. A few minutes later, the elevator brought up the others, and their new armor. Wash was the first to walk out, back into his steel armor with its yellow accents. Alex smiled, "How does it feel to be back in your old colors?"

"Oddly comfortable," Wash said as he came over to the group.

Next came out Sarge. He still had red as his primary color, but he had black highlights. His shotgun was on his back, "Sweet Benjamin Franklin's spectacles, this new HUDsimacallit is so much brighter and… bleepy."

Out came Simmons. His maroon armor had red accents, and he was already murmuring to himself about the features he discovered inside the helmet. Grif came out next, his orange armor hinted with yellow. He was silent, looking at his yellow wrist plate and sighing. Donut came out with pink and purple armor, his voice displaying so much joy over the color combination.

Doc came out next, his purple armor having pink accents. He looked at Donut and was slightly confused as to why their armors were flipped in color scheme. Lopez marched out, his brown armor now with tan highlights. Tucker next came out with his aqua armor with its sage trim. He rolled his shoulder, obviously trying to assuage some pain. Finally, Caboose came out, his Mark V helmet still on, but the armor was new. It had white trim.

The team all came over to the table and stood on the two opposite sides. Reds on the right, Blues on the left. Carolina joined the Blues, standing beside Wash. Alex cleared his throat, "Now, as you can all tell-"

"Hey, why does Alex get the cool armor?" Grif whined.

Alex looked at him, "'cause I'm the Director. Now listen, your armor is made out of better material and comes with a shield. However, this shield will drop once it's taken too many hits. It takes about five seconds to recharge."

"Only five seconds, eh?" Sarge turned to Grif. Grif cowered behind Lopez.

"They also come equipped with a comm back to the _Winds of Change_, as well as a direct uplink to the computer. Which you'll need, later on," Alex continued.

"When are we gonna get those equipment things?" Tucker asked, eager.

Alex waved his had away, "Not until I figure out your specialty on the team. Carolina, Wash and I are the only ones with equipment until further notice."

Simmons scoffed, "Why do the Blues always get the good stuff?"

Alex continued on, "Anyways, guys we have a job to do."

"Already?" Grif whined again.

Alex ignored it and pressed a button on a small panel on the table, a picture of a huge, rocky planet floated a foot above the table, "This is Inception, on of the first colonies in the New Colonization effort of the UNSC. Here, they've been setting up a major hospital due to the planet's huge amounts of healing minerals."

With another button pressed, the picture changed to a chain of three buildings, two smaller wings opening off a larger building. Alex continued on with his explanation, "This facility went dark least week. I sent out a scout to collect any data he could on the facility. It turns out… it's been captured."

"By who?" Wash asked, though he already knew the answer.

"Insurrectionists, rebels to the UNSC," Alex said to the others.

Several red dots appeared inside and outside the holographic buildings, "The UNSC wants us to reclaim the base, and I think this'll be a good starting point for our Project."

"Getting all of us killed in one go?" Grif scoffed, "Yeah, great idea."

Alex ignored the comment, "Sarge, you'll lead Red Team in taking the front entrance. How you get in, its all up to you."

Sarge was obviously excited and started telling Simmons to bring up all their battle plans. Alex turned to Carolina, "Carolina, you'll take Blue team in through the back. Stealth is key here."

Carolina nodded, "Will do, Director."

A red flag and a blue flag appeared on tow sides of the large building. Wash spoke up, "Where will you be entering, sir?"

A white flag appeared on top of the building, "I'm going in from the top, I've been to the hospital while it was under construction. I know a few things about the secret passages."

Alex looked at his team and nodded, "Head to the armory and suit up, we arrive in half an hour, you're LZ coordinates are already uploaded to your HUDs and rendezvous points are as well. We all know out objectives, lets prove the UNSC it was right to rebuild this Project."

Everyone let out murmurs of agreement and Alex smiled, "Dismissed."


	8. Chapter 7: Shooting Yourself in the Foot

Colony Inception

Red Team Landing Zone

July 22, 2560

As the Pelican sped away across the red horizon, Sarge examined the scenery. They stood just before a grove of trees, a path beaten into the ground. The shade of the trees was cool compared to the hot sun. The soil was rocky, dry and it was hard to believe that there were so many trees. Across Sarge's view, he could see many valleys and mountains. The red sun was creeping up from behind the mountains.

"Ah, I love the sight of a red sunrise," Sarge said dreamily.

Simmons came up from behind Sarge, his rocket launcher on his back as he held his battle rifle, "Sir, what's our plan?"

Sarge sighed and turned to his team. Grif was already snoozing in the shade, Lopez was spitting out Spanish words, Donut was complaining how the dry air was going to damage his skin and he was going to need to moisturize for days. Sarge walked in the middle of the group, "Simmons, where is that hospital?"

"Just up the path a few hundred feet," Simmons motioned with his battle rifle, "Any ideas, Sarge? I'm sure they'll be good."

Sarge reviewed the extra data Alex had said in the Pelican, the Insurrectionists had taken over as the staff, claiming to be the actual staff on hand. Perhaps they could use that to their advantage…

"If I only had my tool kit, I could build the FGC…" Sarge mused.

Grif jumped up at the comment, "No way Sarge, that'll never happen!"

Sarge cocked his shot gun and placed it on his back, "Relax, Private, I'm certain that FGC wouldn't work any way… but I do have another idea."

Sarge turned to Donut and Lopez, "I want you two to hide in the trees, don't do anything. No talking, no whispering and ABSOLUTELY no nail painting, moisturizing or any of that girly fussy brichy stuff."

Sarge stared at Donut once he finished, Donut whined, "Oh, but Sarge-"

"No 'buts', Private. Stay down, and keep watch," Sarge said firmly, "Simmons, Grif follow me. We're gonna serve 'em a heaping plate of trickery with a side of Sargin'."

"Excellent choice of words, sir," Simmons said happily.

"Kiss up," Grif mumbled as he placed the Brute shot on his back.

"Target in sight, approaching in thirty seconds," Carolina whispered into her helmet's comm.

"Good," Alex said back over the comm static, "The scout didn't tell me if the Innies had upgrade the hospital's hardware. Be prepared."

Tucker snickered, "I got some-"

"Tucker, shut up!" Wash hissed.

"This is so exciting," Doc squealed quietly.

Carolina gritted her teeth, "Everyone, shut the hell up."

The cover of the trees was thinning as the Blues sneaked toward the back of the hospital. It was 3 rectangular white buildings, the plating still shining in the light. The largest building was at least five stories high, barely any windows on the backside. The two smaller wings were longer, but only three stories high. As the Blues reached the end of the tree cover, Carolina noticed that they were several yards from the door. She held up her hand, signaling for everyone to stop.

Carolina turned to Wash, "See anything?"

Wash held up his rifle and looked down the scope, "I don't see anything. There are no cameras, no guards, nothing. Just a back door…"

Carolina looked ahead. Church popped up on her HUD in his new gear, "Carolina, this seems way too easy, even for us."

Silently agreeing, Carolina gave them the wave forward. They all rushed forward, Caboose whispering, "Sneaking" as they rushed to the door. Carolina pointed at Tucker and Doc, "Take positions by the door. Watch our backs."

"Already am," Tucker smirked behind his helmet as he knelt beside the door and pulled out his battle rifle. Doc walked to his position and pulled out his own pistol. Carolina looked at Wash, "You think you can crack the lock?"

Wash shrugged, "Seems easy-"

Suddenly a series of holographic gears with a floating glob of goo in the middle appeared. Wash swore, "Holographic locks? What the f*ck is with these guys?"

Two guards stood at the entryway to the hospital. They wore UNSC armor, but it was put on a little sloppily judged by the loose straps and askew pieces of armor. They stood at attention, looking down the path. Finally, the soldier to the left of the door looked at his fellow guard and spoke, "Hey?"

The soldier on the right spoke with an annoyed tone, "What?"

"Do you… ever wonder why we're here?" the left soldier asked.

"Well, has been a big question for debate," the right soldier relaxed a little, "I mean, it are we-"

Moans of pain made the soldiers look at the path. Three armored people were walking up the path. There was a red one and a maroon one holding an orange one. The orange one was moaning loudly, throwing his head back in pain. The soldiers slowly worked their way to the entrance. The guards held up their rifles, pointing them at the soldiers.

As they got closer, the right guard yelled, "Hey, you guys! Freeze!"

The maroon one shouted back, "We need your help, our friend needs help!"

The red one scoffed, his voice laced with a southern accent, "'Friend'? That's stretching it a little…"

The left guard yelled back, "What's wrong with him?"

"We can show you!" the maroon one replied.

The guards looked at each other and shrugged, they didn't look like they could cause them any harm. The right guard waved his hand, "C'mon over, we'll take a look!"

The soldiers hurried over. The guards noticed that the soldiers' armors were highlighted with different colors. The style seemed oddly familiar, but the guards shook it off as they inspected the orange soldier. The maroon and red soldiers laid their friend on the steps and the guards looked him over.

After a few minutes, the right guard stood up, "I don't see anything wrong with him."

"Huh, oh I was certain- Hey, what in Uncle Sam's beard is that!?" the red soldier cried and pointed into the sky.

As the guards turned to look, a gunshot went off and there was a scream of pain. When the soldiers turned back, the orange soldier's foot was covered in blood and the red soldier's firearm was smoking on his hip. The right guard was flabbergasted, "D-did you just _shoot_ your friend?"

"What? Me?" The red soldier looked offended, "Why what makes you-"

The red soldier burst out laughing in glee, "Yes, yes I did son. And I loved it."

The left guard held up his rifle, "Y-you're a psycho!"

A pistol shot to his ass made the guard cry out in pain as the orange soldier put his gun away. The guard on the right was about to shoot when the red one wrapped his arm around his head and squeezed. Meanwhile, the maroon soldier kicked the other guard in the head, knocking him out. The red soldier whispered in the right guard's ear as he lost consciousness, "Son, you just got Sarged!"

Sarge let the soldier drop as he looked at Simmons, "Nice acting, Simmons."

Simmons smiled behind his helmet, "Thank you sir, I took a few classes when I was younger-"

"Ow!" Grif howled as he looked at his foot.

"Oh, get up, dirt bag," Sarge tapped Grif, "It was only paint… unfortunately."

"It still hurts like a bitch!" Grif whined.

As Simmons helped up Grif, Sarge radioed to Alex, "We are in, Alex. We'll be at the rendevousaplace in a couple minutes."

As that scene went on I front, Wash growled at the lock. He kept fumbling around in the goo, looking for the lock's central matrix. Carolina noticed, "You having trouble?"

"Give me a minute," Wash pulled up the lock picking guide in his HUD as his mind wandered back to Cali's training.

_Cali was fuming over a practice holo-lock. She had spent hours trying to crack it, her red hair falling n front of her face. Wash had walked in and saw this newbie struggling and decided to try and help. He walked over to her, "Hey."_

_"Go. Away." The new Freelancer growled as the lock turned red and vanished._

_Crying out in frustration, Cali landed back on her butt and punched the ground, "God, these locks are a f*cking pain in the ass!"_

_Wash smiled behind his helmet, "I know how you feel. I spent days in here trying to get past this lock."_

_"Really?" Cali asked._

_Wash laughed, "Yeah, finally York showed me a trick. Here, let me show you."_

Wash shook his head, now was not the time to be getting lost in memory. He need to focus, here and now. As he fumbled through the goo more, he shouted over his comm, "HOW DO YOU OPEN THE DAMN THING?!"

A feminine voice voiced back a reply, "Turn the gears so that they form a full circle, the goo looking stuff will break to reveal the lock matrix. Use that to find the opening code and type that in."

Wash was taken aback, "Who said that?"

"…Donut?" Grif said in surprise over the comm static.

Wash looked up at Carolina. She shrugged, "It's worth a shot."

Forming a circle with the gears, Wash saw the goo disappear to reveal a ball of data. Taking the ball, he broke it apart to reveal a simple number sequence. Pushing it into the center of the gears, the door clicked open. Wash stood up, "It… worked…"

"I know my holes," Donut said proudly.

Carolina looked unphased, "Lets mover people."

Church mumbled, "I could've done that."

Landing on top of the hospital roof, Alex checked his gear. The two SMGs were latched onto his side, ammo clips waiting in a storage unit in his thigh armor pieces. The assault rifle on his back was filled up and ready to use. He heard all that transpired and thought to himself, _Donut and Simmons seem to have a few skills… Well, I'll just have to wait and see if the others have some other skills too._

And with a smile crossing his lips, Alex snuck through the easiest part of the hospital. The worst was yet to come.


End file.
